WHAT IS ZEN? - Chap 10 - Over the Long Haul

[Seishin]

Ok on a windy Sunday morning I've given this chapter a first read but as I've done with the others, will read it a few more times before moving.

Has my Zen practice changed me ? Like other's I've noticed changes but the start of my more focused daily practice, has coincided with my taking early retirement. Or at least the start of the period of things settling down, after the chaotic, leave work, lose father, sell house, move to France, find/buy house, move in decorate etc etc.

As to the dullness staleness. I can relate to this with my guitar learning path, were I became aimless for a while after completing an Intermediate level course. I finally knuckled down and completed a song I'd been working for 18 months and that was the kick I needed to get back to focused practice.

Being new practice wise to Zen, it still seems fresh and although recent events with the EU/UK have disrupted my desire or opportunity to study, I still sit each morning at least and find this sets me up for the day. Or at least focuses me on trying to be more mindful. Then I open up the BBC News web pages and it all goes out the window.

So with 913 days of daily sitting (bar one missed day not long after starting) I've subtly become a little more patient, less angry and more thoughtful, finding it a little easier to let things go. Well some times and some things. But right now its a chicken and egg perception. Is it the Zen or the retirement. I don't know, ask me again in 5 years time.

[Gero]

At first I thought I could not comment on this chapter, with me having started practicing on a regular basis only a year ago. But then I realized that - though it is a far cry from "the long haul" - I might even have a clearer view on changes caused by daily sitting. As there have been no other main changes in my life and just 12 months of practice did not age me enough to attribute any new perspectives on life to old age, it might be that the improvements I feel are directly caused by the practice.
Changes are:
I have become more patient, even with myself
My nervous stomach is not nervous anymore
Seems it is easier for me to stay focussed

Ok, I should revisit this in 10 years or so, when I really might look on "the long haul".


Gero (sat today)

[Geika]

Coming back to this thread, a major thing I keep noticing in my daily life is that I no longer have the patience to be angry. It can sometimes become an issue in my marriage, but for the most part it keeps a lot of the sillier things that couples might bicker about at bay. I no longer wish to waste time bickering, and I tend to drop things right away. This is not ALWAYS a good thing, though-- I can seem too blase about things that are clearly really bothering my husband or a friend or family member. So I would like to be more astute at directing the tool of anger properly, and I feel that with more time I probably will be. I also noticed that when anger does arise,which is rare, it is quite nasty and sharp-- not good either.

Sat today, lah